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Vice President Dick Cheney in the West Wing
The passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney brought back some incredible memories for me. In the first week of September, 2001, the Right Honourable Joe Clark and I visited Washington together. Mr. Clark was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in opposition, and I was the Foreign Affairs Critic for the party.
Our first stop in Washington was the State Department Building where we met with several State officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell. In the meeting that followed, many subjects were discussed, but I sensed it might be the first time that the U. S. officials had heard of many of the matters raised by Mr. Clark. In any case, it was a very interesting meeting in a very interesting facility.
Our second stop in Washington was the West Wing of the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney. This was a very different meeting because Vice President Cheney was keenly aware of the details of all the concerns raised by Mr. Clark.
As I watched the two men talk back and forth, I was amazed that Mr. Cheney was well versed on the Canadian files, and both were able to respond to each other's questions with no hesitation. It was an impressive exchange between the two men to say the least, but clearly Vice President Cheney had a good handle on the Canadian issues. His depth of knowledge convinced me that this was not the result of a quick briefing on Canadian concerns, but it came from his long term experience working on the relationship between Canada and the United States.
Mr. Clark raised the never-ending softwood lumber dispute, farm subsidies, and even pipelines. Cross border security was just starting to become an issue, and a discussion on continental missile defence was on the agenda. Environmental concerns were discussed, but I sensed that these were not a high on the U.S. priority list.
Vice President Cheney's mission at the meeting was to seek support for a shared "North American supply chain" of electricity, gas, and oil. He wanted to reduce dependency on foreign oil and he did not consider Canada as foreign. His goal was to establish energy security for North America. He wanted to increase trade in all forms of energy, including hydroelectric power, and oil. Mr. Cheney viewed North American energy security as a single, integrated system. He even used the word partnership.
Ironically, at that time, Mr. Cheney wanted to simplify cross border travel and business approvals. How things have changed.
Mr. Clark and Mr. Cheney talked about the expansion of proposed pipelines to the U.S. Discussions like these eventually resulted in the Keystone Pipeline construction years later. This pipeline was part of Mr. Cheney’s plan for “North American energy security”.
Vice President Cheney was very impressive. During the entire visit he sat relaxed, crossways in his chair with one leg over one arm of his chair. Mr. Cheney could respond with amazing, detailed knowledge on every item that Mr. Clark raised. He clearly appreciated our Canadian perspective. He treated Canada as a country to be respected.
Fast forward to today, I don t feel that the United States administration considers Canada an equal in any way. Where Vice President Cheney wanted to enhance the relationship between Canada and the United States, the current administration in the U.S. continually finds ways to divide our two countries.
It is a very different relationship than the one Vice President Cheney envisioned. We could certainly use the strong voice of Vice President Dick Cheney in this relationship right now.
I was very fortunate to be part of that meeting, and I can only imagine how much Mr. Cheney’s family will miss his presence. My sincere condolences to his family. I am glad to have had the chance to meet Vice President Dick Cheney.
Thanks for reading
Bill
Our first stop in Washington was the State Department Building where we met with several State officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell. In the meeting that followed, many subjects were discussed, but I sensed it might be the first time that the U. S. officials had heard of many of the matters raised by Mr. Clark. In any case, it was a very interesting meeting in a very interesting facility.
Our second stop in Washington was the West Wing of the White House with Vice President Dick Cheney. This was a very different meeting because Vice President Cheney was keenly aware of the details of all the concerns raised by Mr. Clark.
As I watched the two men talk back and forth, I was amazed that Mr. Cheney was well versed on the Canadian files, and both were able to respond to each other's questions with no hesitation. It was an impressive exchange between the two men to say the least, but clearly Vice President Cheney had a good handle on the Canadian issues. His depth of knowledge convinced me that this was not the result of a quick briefing on Canadian concerns, but it came from his long term experience working on the relationship between Canada and the United States.
Mr. Clark raised the never-ending softwood lumber dispute, farm subsidies, and even pipelines. Cross border security was just starting to become an issue, and a discussion on continental missile defence was on the agenda. Environmental concerns were discussed, but I sensed that these were not a high on the U.S. priority list.
Vice President Cheney's mission at the meeting was to seek support for a shared "North American supply chain" of electricity, gas, and oil. He wanted to reduce dependency on foreign oil and he did not consider Canada as foreign. His goal was to establish energy security for North America. He wanted to increase trade in all forms of energy, including hydroelectric power, and oil. Mr. Cheney viewed North American energy security as a single, integrated system. He even used the word partnership.
Ironically, at that time, Mr. Cheney wanted to simplify cross border travel and business approvals. How things have changed.
Mr. Clark and Mr. Cheney talked about the expansion of proposed pipelines to the U.S. Discussions like these eventually resulted in the Keystone Pipeline construction years later. This pipeline was part of Mr. Cheney’s plan for “North American energy security”.
Vice President Cheney was very impressive. During the entire visit he sat relaxed, crossways in his chair with one leg over one arm of his chair. Mr. Cheney could respond with amazing, detailed knowledge on every item that Mr. Clark raised. He clearly appreciated our Canadian perspective. He treated Canada as a country to be respected.
Fast forward to today, I don t feel that the United States administration considers Canada an equal in any way. Where Vice President Cheney wanted to enhance the relationship between Canada and the United States, the current administration in the U.S. continually finds ways to divide our two countries.
It is a very different relationship than the one Vice President Cheney envisioned. We could certainly use the strong voice of Vice President Dick Cheney in this relationship right now.
I was very fortunate to be part of that meeting, and I can only imagine how much Mr. Cheney’s family will miss his presence. My sincere condolences to his family. I am glad to have had the chance to meet Vice President Dick Cheney.
Thanks for reading
Bill